Reliance Jio's launch of 4G services could disrupt data pricing in the Indian mobile service provider market, causing revenue-per-megabyte prices to tumble 30 percent to 40 percent this year, according to the India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra).
At the same time, given expected lower prices, data services average revenue per user also will decline, although the number of accounts should increase, while data consumption also climbs, over time.
Revenue per megabyte declined by 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent, sequentially, in the third quarter, for Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular.
Ind-Ra believes expects a further softening of data tariffs in the current year of perhaps negative eight percent to 10 percent.
Those are among the least controversial observations that could be made about Reliance Jio’s entry into the Indian mobile services market.
India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) “expects the launch of Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJio) to intensify competition which will squeeze the market share, EBITDA margins and credit metrics of incumbents.”
At the same time, debt burdens will increase, as competitors and Reliance Jio itself invest heavily in their networks and spectrum.
Ind-Ra also expects voice revenue to decline. Airtel and Idea reduced voice tariffs by eight percent to 10 percent last year.
In addition to price drops over time, price-per-megabyte also drops with volume purchased.
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